Tänak, 39, stepped down from WRC competition at the end of the 2025 season and so was not competing in 2026. He will rejoin Toyota, the team he won his sold drivers' title with in 2019, and will be joined with his Estonian co-driver Martin Järveoja.

"It is a great honor to be back at Toyota, the team with which Martin and I became world champions. We have very good memories of this team, and I have great respect for the people here and everything they have achieved," Tänak said via a Toyota press release.

The WRC reported Toyota is also to bring back the Celica name to the WRC in 2027 as part of a major expansion that will see the Japanese manufacturer field two separate teams and two different cars under the championship's new technical regulations, with six drivers named across the operation.

Toyota is also retaining the Yaris Rally1, which Tänak and Järveoja will be driving alongside two-time champion Kalle Rovanperä (Finland) and Takamoto Katsuta (Japan).

New world champion Elfyn Evans (Wales) will be number on driver for Toyota Racing in the all-new GR Celica Rally1, joined by Norwegian-Swedish driver Oliver Solberg and another Finn, Sami Pajari.

Rally portal Dirtfish reported Tänak said he was "probably a bit relieved" when he stepped away, and that the decision came during a period when "things were not really going as smooth as you would have expected."He added that he began to miss the championship during Monte Carlo, though he was "still happy not to be there on Thursday evening, worrying about the tires."

Toyota's 2027 team launch can be watched by clicking on the video player below.

As for the upcoming season, Tänak said: "It has been really nice to work with them again this year on developing the car. I have enjoyed my time away from rallying, but the desire to drive has remained strong. It is a new beginning for everyone and there are still many unknowns, but I am looking forward to returning to the rally stages."

Tänak drove for Toyota in 2018–19, winning the title in his second season and ending Frenchman Sébastien Ogier's dominant six-year reign. The pair won 10 WRC rounds during that spell. He then spent 2020–22 and 2024–25 with Hyundai, interspersed by a single season at M-Sport Ford in 2023. While he took 10 more wins after leaving Toyota including before a home crowd at the inaugural WRC Rally Estonia, he did not win a second world title up to 2025.

The Estonian announced exactly a year ago that he was putting his career on hold and did not compete in any WRC rounds in 2026, saying he wanted to be present for his children and to "reset, recharge my batteries and refocus."

Dirtfish reported Toyota's approach came through existing contacts within the team, who "have my number," Tänak said. Discussions began early in the season when the team realized its current drivers would be busy with the championship and the new car needed development driving. italics

According to Dirtfish Tänak called new WRC regulations "quite a challenging regulation" and said the rules will make the season "so open" he first wants to see how the cars compare to Rally2 machinery. italics

The Celica, central to Toyota's 1990s dominance, is being developed in parallel with the Yaris in Jyväskylä in central Finland, with homologation in December.

The 2027 season starts January 21 as per tradition with Rally Monte Carlo and ends 15 rounds later in Saudi Arabia in late November.

New technical regulations replace the 2022–2026 rules, with WRC27 cars using Rally2 engines, suspension, running gear and brakes, and Rally2 manufacturers able to homologate an aero kit to compete in the top class. Two new teams are due to compete at selected races alongside Toyota and Ford, while a question mark hangs over Hyundai's status for the 2027 season.

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